i

ase reports. The faces that stand out are few and far between. The woman wh

make an impression. He was just another in a line of parents too deep in t

ddenly, he's

ce breaks. An unspoken plea wedged between the

draws closer. The alcohol o

takes me r

being young and helpless. Back to making myself

his teeth. "You wrote in your fuc

d and tiptoed around adults like he was walking through

it too m

ed too m

t isn't blood pumping through my veins. I panic. Fea

self.Push him a

is front teeth is brown and the other is broken in h

t. Fight

at closes up. The world begins to blacken at the edges l

ds. Not with a bang,

as he appeared, th

he fray. I swear I'm h

rrupting s

m positive I'm right. This man is a g

my attacker. All I can see is the thick swell o

u?" My attacker snee

ur hands from your arms if you to

up from where the god threw him to the ground, I see him stumble. He's d

I di

t do an

'm surprised the rain on my skin does

n distaste before he hunches against the rain and scampers

ick. I press a hand to my chest and

you h

Black-ink tattoos slip out of the ends of his rolled-up shirt sleeves to wrap around his wrists. Sixty seconds ago, I wo

y. Even in the dark, his blue eyes

inned

o, I'm okay. He didn't-You got here just in time. Nothing happened." I roll my shoulders.

" the ma

at him, a frown wor

ou shouldn't be wandering down dark alleys in the

what he's saying. And how he's saying

t's just after eight. The storm is m

nd you don't have a weapon. If you'd spent half a fucking second observing your surroundings, you wou

g back redoubles and charges at

g too hard to

across the str

ort. "No wonder. What are you, a werewolf or som

seconds with something like amusement. Then his full

t of assholes wandering ar

to save you from them." He

that, I'm

hill that goes far beyond skin deep, and b

hell just